Choral Festival Features University Concert Choirs

PRINCESS ANNE, MD-The fifth annual Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Choral Festival “I, Too, Sing America” will be hosted by the University of Maryland Eastern Shore on Sunday, April 6, at 4 p.m. in the Ella Fitzgerald Performing Arts Center. The festival consists of performances by the concert choirs of each of the five participating institutions.

“The choral festival, ‘I, Too, Sing America,’ is unique in that it is not a competition. Its purpose is to provide a meaningful experience for the audience as well as an opportunity for the talented musicians to broaden their musical perspectives,” said Dr. Sheila McDonald Harleston, concert choir director, assistant professor, UMES Department of Fine Arts. “It also serves to perpetuate the significance of the Negro spiritual and other genres of music.”

This year’s participants include the university concert choirs of Bowie State in Maryland, under the direction of Dr. Marymal Holmes; Cheyney in Pennsylvania, under the direction of Damon Dandridge; Delaware State in Dover, Del., under the direction of Curtis Powell; Lincoln in Pennsylvania, under the direction of Albert Lee and UMES, under the direction of Harleston. Dr. Isaiah McGee, director of choral studies at Claflin University in Orangeburg, S.C., will be the guest conductor for the finale selections.

The UMES Concert Choir will perform Undine Smith Moore’s “I Believe This Is Jesus,” Renee Clausen’s “Seek the Lord” and Moses Hogan’s arrangement of “Cert’nly Lord.” The event is free and open to the community. For more information, contact 410-651-6669.